Donald N. Duvick
Iowa State University
December 18, 1924 - May 23, 2006
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Scientific Discipline: Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences Membership Type:
Member
(elected 2002)
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Donald Duvick improved the vigor, yield, and economy of agriculture through plant genetics. Much of his early research and success focused on corn production; however, in later years Duvick also studied genetic improvements to soybeans, wheat, sorghum, alfalfa, sunflower, and cotton, and the seeds that he helped develop were grown by farmers and companies around the world.
Duvick studied agronomy at the University of Illinois. After finishing his undergraduate degree in 1948, he began graduate studies at the University of Washington with a scholarship from Pioneer Hi-Bred Corn Company. Duvick completed his PhD in 1951 and was hired by Pioneer as a corn breeder, which is when he began to study controlled sterility and fertility restoration in corn. The cytoplasmic sterility/genetic restorer system that Duvick developed dominated production of hybrid corn seeds more than twenty years.
When he finally retired in 1990, Duvick was senior vice president of research at Pioneer. He also volunteered service and expertise to organizations concerned with agriculture and population nutrition in developing countries.
In recognition of his contributions to science, Duvick received the American Society of Agronomy Agronomic Service Award, the National Council of Commercial Plant Breeders Genetic and Plant Breeding Award, and the DeKalb Crop Scientist Distinguished Career Award. He also held memberships with the Iowa Academy of Science, the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
